Bill would offer driving privileges to DUI offenders

DOVER — A bill under review in the New Hampshire Legislature would permit people convicted of a first-time DUI offense to continue driving to work.

Under the proposal, DUI offenders would be eligible to apply for permission from a judge to retain some driving privileges. Those privileges would be limited to commuting to and from work, or to a job interview, a hospital or a substance abuse treatment session.

Those who are approved would be required to pay a fee, and to have a vehicle ignition interlock device installed in their cars.

The devices require drivers to blow into a blood-alcohol testing meter in order to start the car. They're capable of submitting reports to the Department of Corrections if a driver tests positive for alcohol, Rep. Steven Shurtleff, the sponsor of the bill, said last week. Violators would face a class B misdemeanor offense.

It was Republican Rep. John Tholl, of Whitefield, who first sponsored the bill, Shurtleff said. It targets one of the most onerous components of a DUI conviction: a mandatory license suspension.

Tholl lost his bid for reelection in November and asked Shurtleff, D-Penacook, to take over as the prime sponsor this year.

“His intent was the fact that so many people who are arrested for DUI do lose their jobs because they can't find transportation to get to work,” Shurtleff said, “and then that puts a burden on the state and local communities ...”

Under the proposal, a first-time DUI offender could petition the court for permission to drive from home to work and back. Limited privileges would also be available to allow first-time offenders to transport themselves or a family member to a medical facility.

First-time DUI offenders who are receiving drug and alcohol counseling could also seek permission to drive in order to reach treatment sessions, or to attend job employment opportunities.

Approximately 6,000 DUI cases were prosecuted in the state last year, according background information provided in the bill proposal.

“My purpose for doing this is, I'm sure there are people now that are continuing to drive because they've got to work,” Shurtleff said. “This would take away them getting an illegal act.”

HB 496 was introduced Jan. 3 and referred to the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. The committee held a first public hearing on the bill on Jan. 5.

Shurtleff said he hopes to include a filing fee in the bill that would make it revenue neutral for taxpayers. The Department of Safety projects the cost of designing, programming and testing changes to its database at $84,375 in fiscal 2014.

Although the bill has some supporters, it has also engendered criticism in Concord. Christopher Casko, administrator of hearings for the Department of Safety, said DOS opposes the bill in its current form. The bill is problematic because it could potentially sidestep mandatory license suspensions, and because it does not appear to limit the scope of eligibility for DUI offenders, he said.

“We feel there definitely would need to be an immediate suspension in every DWI case as the law provides for now,” Casko said.

The Criminal Justice Committee is set to discuss the bill again later this month, Shurtleff said.
“You never know what a committee might do, and as I told the committee, whatever decision they make I know will be the right one,” he said.